• Loading stock data...
Thursday, June 5, 2025

Cowboys-Giants on Amazon Shatters Record for Most-Streamed Regular Season NFL Game

Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images

Heading into Thursday night’s NFC matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, both teams were 1-2 and both fanbases were already frustrated with their start to the season. 

That didn’t stop America from tuning in. The game, exclusive to Amazon Prime Video, shattered the record for the most-streamed NFL regular season game ever. 

Amazon says it averaged 16.22 million viewers for its Thursday Night Football stream of Dallas’s 20-15 win, according to Nielsen’s Panel Only measurement. 

That topped by 6% the Amazon stream of Cowboys-Seahawks on Nov. 30, 2023, which averaged 15.26 million viewers. 

A Nielsen update Monday morning increased the audience estimate to 17.61 million.

It is not the most-streamed NFL game ever; that title belongs to NBCUniversal’s Peacock stream of the Chiefs-Dolphins Wild Card playoff game, which was the most-streamed NFL game of any kind, averaging 23 million viewers.

With its record-setting performance, Jeff Bezos’s tech giant may be putting to bed the notion that tech streamers can’t attract broadcast-sized audiences for the biggest live games.

Amazon is getting closer to matching NFL broadcast audiences. During the first three weeks of the 2024 season, NFL games averaged 18.6 million viewers across TV/digital, up 10% vs. the same period last year. Over its first three games, TNF on Amazon is averaging 14.88 million viewers, up 25% from last season’s comparable first-three-games average of 11.86 million.

The Cowboys rank right behind the Chiefs as the second-most-popular TV draw this season. The combination of a tight game, two national fan bases, and the country’s largest TV market in the Big Apple, helped drive Amazon’s record-setting night.

The stream of Cowboys-Giants attracted a peak audience of 18.10 million viewers between 9:15 and 9:30 pm ET. That was the largest peak audience ever for TNF. It’s the second time in three weeks that TNF’s game coverage has peaked at 18 million viewers or more. 

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime’s studio show, TNF Tonight, is averaging 1.77 million viewers over the first three games, up 27% from last year’s 1.39 million. TNF Nightcap, the streamer’s post-game studio show, is averaging 2.04 million viewers, up 10% 

As with last season, TNF is also drawing a younger TV audience—roughly seven years younger this season than those watching NFL games on linear TV networks. The median age is 47.6 years old vs. 54.5 for NFL game viewers on CBS, NBC, Fox and ESPN.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Aaron Rodgers
breaking

Aaron Rodgers Finally Agrees to Deal With Steelers

The one-year deal is reportedly set to be signed Friday.
exclusive

Layoffs Hit The Ringer, Spotify

About 15 employees lost their jobs this week.
Lois Boisson

Coco Gauff Ends Lois Boisson’s $785K Cinderella Run in French Open Semis

Boisson entered the tournament ranked No. 361 in the world.
Reinsdorf

Jerry Reinsdorf Agrees to Complex Deal With Ishbias for White Sox

The deal keeps Reinsdorf in control until at least 2029.

Featured Today

May 27, 2015; Paris, France; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) knocks the clay off her shoe during her match against Simona Halep (ROU) on day four of the French Open at Roland Garros

Roland-Garros’s Iconic Red-Clay Surface Is a Precise Alchemy

The exact science behind maintaining the French Open’s red clay.
Alex Jensen introductory press conference on Monday, March 17, 2025.
June 3, 2025

Alex Jensen Started Utah Utes HC Job While Still Coaching the Mavs

How Jensen began building an NCAA program while patrolling the Dallas sideline.
May 31, 2025

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
May 30, 2025

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.
exclusive

Michelle Beadle on Losing SiriusXM Slot to Stephen A. Smith: ‘I Don’t..

Smith will host a weekday show in Beadle’s former spot, as well as a weekly show.
June 3, 2025

MLB TV Ratings Jump: Fox Up 10%, ESPN Hits Eight-Year High

Each of the league’s national rights holders is posting audience gains.
May 1, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Stephen A. Smith attends game six of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs between the Denver Nuggets and the LA Clippers at Intuit Dome.
June 4, 2025

Stephen A. Smith Political Pivot Continues With Non-Sports Sirius Show

One of the busiest men in sports media gets even busier.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
June 3, 2025

NBA Playoff Ratings Up 3%, Pacers-Knicks G6 Sets Postseason High

The Thunder and Pacers face off in the NBA Finals starting Thursday.
exclusive
June 3, 2025

Jackie Redmond on Absurd Travel Between NHL Playoffs, WWE

Redmond covered four events in six nights across the continent.
Hosts of Inside the NBA on TNT
exclusive
June 2, 2025

Inside ‘Inside the NBA’ Transition to ESPN

Sources say ESPN management will take a hands-off approach to the show.
June 2, 2025

History Shows Pacers vs. Thunder May Draw Record-Low Ratings

Indiana and Oklahoma City are two of the NBA’s smallest U.S. television markets.